Category Archives: Enrepreneurship

From Hanan Anis, Entrepreneurship Coordinator at the Faculty of Engineering:

Creative Entrepreneurship and the Maker Movement

Entrepreneurship Bridges – February 10th – 5:00pm – 7:00pm –Throughout the world, millions of engineers, makers, hobbyists, entrepreneurs and innovators are fueling what has been dubbed as the next “Industrial Revolution.” With the opening of our very own Makerspace, uOttawa students have access to state-of-the-art and low-cost digital fabrication tools such as 3D printing. Through an interactive panel discussion, learn how this revolution is poised to unleash an unprecedented new wave ofcreative entrepreneurs and how you can take advantage. Register. This discussion will be followed by a hand-on workshop on 3D printing. You can register for that oneventbrite (http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/makerspace-panel-3d-printing-workshop-makerspace-uottawa-tickets-15293295659)

Makerspace update:

Makerspace workshops: The Makerspace continues to offer free workshops on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30p.m. All you need to do is register on Eventbrite (http://www.eventbrite.ca/o/uottawa-makerspace-6930970537). The 3D printing and Arduino workshops continue to be oversubscribed. There are spots still available in the 3D printing workshop on Feb10th as well as for the Arduino workshop on Feb.24th.

Makerspace prosthetics challenge: The Makerspace had been approached by a local family, who needed a prosthetic hand to be printed for their 6 year old son, Sebastian, who had outgrown his 3d printed hand. So, we launched this challenge to give Sebastian an improved 3D printed hand. Many files can be found online at http://enablingthefuture.org/upper-limb-prosthetics/ to start you off. Design a hand using 3D software (Solidworks, Tinkercad) or edit the files that are available online. 3D Print your files at the uOttawa Makerspace and assemble the hand! The prosthetic hands must be submitted to the Makerspace Team by March 13th, 2015 at noon. The top 3 designs will be provided to Sebastian for his evaluation. No matter how sophisticated the technology or the design is, what matters is how comfortable the prosthetic hand is for Sebastian. He will try on the different hands and make his choice, and the winner will be announced on March 20th, 2015 and will receive a $1000. To help you further along your ideas, we will be holding design workshops:

Prosthetics Design Workshop: January 27th, 2015 (today)

Design Feedback Workshop: February 17th, 2015

Make your own 3D printer-March 29th, 2015: Spend a day in the Makerspace with step by step instructions and guidance on how to construct your very own 3d printer to take home. There is no technical knowledge or experience necessary. The cost of the workshop is $350 and for that price we will supply all the parts and tools necessary to assemble the 3d printers. The cost will also subsidize one 3D printer for at risk youth. Space is limited to 12 participants so register if you are interested on eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.ca/publish?crumb=d02680cb514d1a&eid=14739681785). Please note that once you register, we will e-mail you a link for payment.

Attention all car enthusiasts: An Alumni of the University has reached out to the Makerspace for some help. The team is building an open class rally to compete in regional and National event across eastern Canada. The team has 3 cars and is currently preparing to compete in Maniwaki, QC in two weeks with a G2 VW Golf rally car (car #24) (http://www.rallyeperceneige.com/). The team is also building a new car that is a highly modified 1990 VW Corrado with a modern 1.8T engine and AWD drive train. The chassis is almost completed and they are at the point of assembling the car. Assistance is required on the control side. The car will have 3 androids running various systems/apps. The team needs help to build and configure a Raspberry pi Wifi interface controlling a 12-relay board to control various equipment in the car (i.e. lights, fan, start/stop, washer etc.). Please contact Vincent directly if interested (vlandreville@sympatico.ca) or (Vincent.Landreville@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca).

Bragging rights-Project Codemakers: Actua, a national charity that supports STEM outreach program like Adventures in Engineering and Science from across the country, has just launched a newproject with Google called Codemakers and will be celebrating this partnership in our Makerspace. There will be over 60 delegates from 26+ universities at uOttawa for two keynote presentations (Steve Woods of Google and Pat Yongpradit of Code.Org) and the Makerspace team will be leading the delegates through the various technologies in the Makerspace.

Entrepreneurship update:

Entrepreneurship Concepts PEI Student Competition (EC-PEI)- February 6th, 2015 (next Friday), 1-4 p.m in the faculty lounge (basement of CBY): Come and cheer our finalists for EC-PEI business plan competition. The winners will take home prizes and bragging rights ($5,000 first prize, $3,000 second prize and $2,000 third prize) and they need your support!

Entrepreneurial internships: We have launched an internship program in the faculty. The intent is to enable students with an entrepreneurial spirit to advance their start-ups while getting paid through the University. Students start the internship with a business plan and drive to turn it into a real business. Each intern will be paid $6,000 per semester as well as mentorship and training. Please contact Dr. Anis if you have an entrepreneurial idea and want to be considered for this internship.